This fall, the Crown Plaza Hotel in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava hosted the 6th Central European Congress on Obesity (CECON) and 15th Slovak Congress on Obesity. The program included presentations on the many different aspects of obesity, including surgical interventions as well as research done by international institutions and delegates. The conference was open for clinicians, practitioners, physicians, nutritionists, surgeons and researchers.
In order to outline the main points that were made during the weekend of October 5-7 we approached one of the participants. We listed below the main facts and conclusions that should be taken into account from CECON 2017. Don’t bother checking for online coverage, as it was quite poor, even on social media.
Bariatric surgery
The program included talks on types of procedures and benefits of bariatric surgery as well as conservation/preservation of the resulting weight loss. The guests outlined in their presentations that bariatric surgery also requires a multidisciplinary approach and requires lifestyle changes. Before going ahead with the procedure, each patient must establish the suitable procedure for them, together with their doctor. After the procedure, the results will be optimal if the patient visits and works together with a nutritionist and starts living and active life. This will also help the patient have more balanced hormone levels.
Genetics of obesity
Contrary to what many believe and what many patients use as an explanation during their first visit to the nutritionist, it seems that obesity is not only related to genes, but is also strongly dependent to a person’s lifestyle. This is an interesting point that should increase the appetite for more research on the topic of the nutrition of infants and young children.
Sports
Sports and sports diets were also included in the topics at CECON 2017 where some interesting research data was presented to the audience. One of the conclusions that stood out was that there shouldn’t be any lifestyle change program without including sports. Of course, the type of activity can vary and should be customized for each person, depending on type, duration, intensity and frequency. Sports is not necessarily a means to lose weight, but also a process that maintains balanced hormone levels, cardiovascular strength, among others. Not to mention that the basal metabolism (the minimum amount of energy required to maintain vital functions in an organism at complete rest, for those of you that are not in the field) depends on muscular strength.
Sports and diets
Guest Chia Hua Kuo , Ph.D. at Sports University in Taipei, talked about sports and diets. In his research, he found that it would be recommended to have a meal before and after a workout in order to get the best results. He claims that those eating right after going to the gym get better results than those who prefer delayed meals. He supports the idea of carbs and high-quality proteins to recreate glycogen in the muscles. We know that rebuilding glycogen is important to avoid tiredness, first of all. Opinions on the subject are diverse, but his was quite an interesting theory.
Hypocaloric diets
This was another interesting topic that we all know is very popular, especially online. This year’s CECON approached several types of such diets and gave some insight on what works and what doesn’t.
Obesity in children
There was an entire section in the conference dedicated to obesity in children. The main idea regarding the approach is that the nutritionist or registered dietitians needs to address the parent first and foremost. There were some studies made in Slovakia presented to the audience, which showed a tragic situation—40% of children in the country deal with obesity. The high prevalence is usually considered specific for Western countries, but it seems that Eastern Europe is just as affected.
The subject of obesity comes into play more and more often as the numbers of those affected keeps growing. There is a lot of concern regarding obesity in children which triggered too little action in the field of nutrition in schools. We will try to keep you up to date with significant finds and facts in this research area, as we continue to help nutritionist and RDs better plan their schedule and practice. Make sure to send us your comments and opinions on our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.